Inter Milan manager Simone Inzaghi feels Tottenham Hotspur transfer target Nicolo Barella made a ‘serious mistake’ getting sent off at Real Madrid, via quotes by TuttoMercatoWEB.
The Italian earned the first straight red card of his professional career on Tuesday during the Nerazzurri’s Champions League loss. Referee Felix Brych reached for his back pocket on 64-minutes after Barella lashed out at Galacticos ace Eder Militao for a robust challenge.
Militao stood his ground to see Arturo Vidal’s pass head out of play, but sent Barella into the advertising boards in the process. Barella reacted by punching the Brazilian’s leg, sparking both teams to rush in and separate the two players.
Barella upset Inzaghi by reacting in such a manner whilst already a goal behind. The Inter boss had also just made a triple change on the hour mark in hopes of finding an equaliser.
“He made a serious mistake,” Inzaghi said of Barella’s red card. “But I think he understood it immediately. He apologised immediately to his teammates and the staff after the game.
“We had created a lot, Barella had had the opportunity [to equalise] and was nervous about having made a mistake. His red influenced our game, also because I had just made the changes and we still had more than 30-minutes to play.”
Barella’s red ended the tie as a contest for Inter Milan, before Marco Asensio doubled Real Madrid’s lead on 79-minutes. Toni Kroos had put the Galacticos ahead in the first-half.
Inter Milan star Barella earns reckless red card amid Tottenham transfer interest
Barella’s red against Real Madrid was the first straight sending off of the Inter Milan star’s senior career. Referees had only previously shown him red for two yellow card incidents.
Each of his previous dismissals also came before joining the Nerazzurri from Cagliari in 2019. Barella received his marching orders four times over 112 games for his boyhood club.
The 24-year-old now has one straight red and 26 yellow cards in 108 games for the San Siro side. He earned 22 of his cautions over 87 games during Antonio Conte’s time in charge.
Conte admires what Barella offers when on the pitch greatly, having shown an interest in signing the Inter Milan star in an upcoming transfer window since joining Tottenham.
That’s according to the Daily Mail, but Inter Sporting Director Piero Ausilio has told Sky Italia he is ‘not afraid’ of Conte returning to try and raid the San Siro. Barella also signed a new contract in November running to 2026 that is worth around €5m-a-year (£82k-a/w).
His new deal will likely see Inter demand more than the €70m (£60m) they requested to sell Barella this summer amid Premier League transfer interest in the midfielder, per Leggo.
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